Rickon was born and raised at Wintefell. He has two older brothers Robb and Bran and two older sisters Sansa and Arya. He also has an older bastard half-brother of Jon Snow. He is named for his grandfather, Rickard, who died eleven years before Rickon was born. He is five when the series begins.[2]

Rickon is five years old when the series begins, and has just started to learn responsibilities and duties such as carrying weapons for his brothers during practice. His brothers find a litter of direwolves in the wolfswood north of Winterfell. Rickon adopts one of the wolves and names it Shaggydog. He receives the visiting King Robert Baratheon with his family at Winterfell, standing close to his mother. His father accepts King Robert's offer to serve as the Hand of the King. Rickon's brother Bran is found severely injured at the base of a disused tower.[3] Eddard travels south to the capital King's Landing, taking Arya and Sansa with him. Catelyn initially remains with Bran. She protects him from an assassination attempt and then discovers evidence implicating House Lannister in his injuries. She follows Eddard south to warn him in secret. Rickon's oldest brother Robb is left in charge of Winterfell.[4]

King Robert dies following a hunting accident. His son Joffrey Baratheon claims the throne. Eddard challenges his legitimacy and is arrested for treason. Robb decides to ride against King Joffrey and wants to bid his younger brothers goodbye but Rickon is nowhere to be found. Afterwards Bran tries to reassure Rickon that Robb will return but Rickon is adamant that he'll never see Robb again.

Rickon and Shaggydog in the crypts below Winterfell in Fire and Blood.

Rickon sees his father in the crypts below Winterfell in a dream. He goes down to the crypts with Shaggydog to look for him. He meets his brother Bran who also had a dream about his father being there. When Bran emerges from the crypts Maester Luwin tells him that their father has been killed.[5]

In the great hall of Winterfell Prince Bran Stark holds court for his people. He remains the acting Lord of Winterfell and wears a gorget embossed with the direwolf of House Stark about his neck while the House Tully pin fastens his doublet. His brother Rickon Stark sits beside him, shelling nuts loudly with a rock. A shepherd reports being unable to tend to his flock with his three sons fighting in the south. He reassures Bran of the loyalty of his sons but says that there are growing numbers of wolves in the north and that he cannot protect his sheep from them alone. Bran offers to assign two orphans from Winterfell’s outlying Winterstown to aid him if he will give them room and board. The shepherd gratefully accepts, saying that his wife always wanted more children. When the shepherd leaves Bran tells Rickon to stop. Having seen everyone Bran tells MaesterLuwin that he is going to go for a ride before dark and calls for Hodor.[6]

Ser Rodrik Cassel enters the Great Hall calling for Bran. He reports that Torrhen’s Square is under siege. Luwin is shocked, remarking that Torrhen’s Square is just 14 leagues away and wonders how the Lannisters have reached so far north. Osha listens intently as she lights candles at the back of the room. Ser Rodrik speculates that it could be a raiding party led by the Mountain or a group of sellswords. Bran says that they must help their bannermen. Rodrik nods agreement and says that even with most of their forces fighting for Robb he can gather 200 decent men. Luwin wonders if Rodrik needs to take so many and Bran cautions that they must protect their bannermen if they expect their bannermen to protect them. Rodrik smiles at the boy’s wisdom and Bran orders him to leave as soon as he has his men. Rodrik confidently says that it will not take long because southerners do not do well in their territory.[6]

The attack is a feint orchestrated by Theon Greyjoy to lure away the garrison of Winterfell. He seizes the poorly defended castle and forces Bran to surrender to him by threatening the people. Rickon is distraught when Theon publicly executes Rodrik. Osha manages to free Bran and Rickon and leads them out of the castle.[7] They reach the shepherd's farm in the Winterstown. Rickon remembers that Bran sent Billy and Jack there and wants to approach them for food. Bran is cautious about putting them in danger if they are tracked. Bran's concern proves valid when Theon later reaches the farm but cannot find Bran or Rickon. He brutalizes the shepherd and then returns to Winterfell with the charred corpses of two boys, claiming that they are Bran and Rickon.[8] The escapees actually back tracked through the stream and are hiding in the crypts at Winterfell. The bodies were the orphans from the farm. Rickon is described as being aged six by Yara Greyjoy when she learns of the deaths.[9]

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels Rickon is three years old when the narrative begins. He is very young, but fierce and strong for his age. He and Robb are the only ones out of Ned Stark's six children who are not POV characters. While Robb is an important character, he isn't a POV for dramatic reasons (most of his actions are told through Catelyn's POV). Rickon, meanwhile, isn't a POV character due to his very young age. Much as in Seasons 1 and 2, Rickon usually appears in chapters narrated by Bran's POV. Another similarity is that as Rickon gets older he gradually gets a larger speaking roll, as seen in both book 2 and Season 2 compared to his small roll in book 1 and Season 1.